Episode Summary

For an exploration of violence in our society, Rossi interviews a football player who crippled an opponent while Billie talks to doctors and the injured player's wife. Meanwhile, Lou figuratively butts heads with the Trib's film critic about the predominance of violence in the movies.

Early Fred Dryer & Tyne Daly

The episode features some notable early appearances by future TV stars Tyne Daly (Cagney & Lacey) and Fred Dryer (Hunter). In fact, Daly's husband directs the episode. She turns in a charming performance as a movie critic debating the merits of on-screen violence with Lou and the others. But the main plot involves Dryer, a real-life pro football player, in a story about the potentially dangerous practice of hitting opponents hard on the field. One of the players does get whacked pretty hard and winds up in the hospital with permanent paralysis. While I think that seems realistic, having Dryer's character retire from the game to make a statement about violence in football definitely does not seem realistic (who's going to walk away from all that money?). There was also another implausibility earlier in the episode when Mrs. Pynchon is shown to be friendly with a high-ranking game official who just so happens to serve with her on an Olympic committee. Likely? Not really.moreless

Art: I don't know what to make of this. I guess it's good news. Police beat says there were no murders in Los Angeles yesterday, for the first time this year. I mean, what kind of a city is this? When nobody kills anybody, that's news?

NOTES (0)

ALLUSIONS (1)

Lou and his friends watch a gangster movie called Carlos & Wendy. This may be an inside joke, a pun on the name of composer Wendy Carlos. Wendy was born Walter Carlos, but underwent a sex change operation in 1972. His/her most famous work is the soundtrack for A Clockwork Orange, a film widely criticized for its violence, ... which brings us back to the theme of the episode.

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